Simon Creak’s Embodied Nation extends the work of the most frequently referenced experts on the making of the nation of Laos: Grant Evans, Martin Stuart-Fox, Soren Ivarsson and the only Lao, Vattana Pholsena. Creak acknowledges his debt to these and others, while qualifying that debt. “None of these scholars pay serious attention to [physical culture]. Instead, they … focus on the abstract dynamics that create national sentiment — language, literature, cartography, print media, historiography, and so on.” Thus, Creak knowingly steps out on an academic limb.
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- Tags: Issue 3, Laos, Robert Cooper, Simon Creak